Elkhart bust nets $200,000 in drugs

Prosecutor says drugs smuggled in from Mexico.

Prosecutor says drugs smuggled in from Mexico.

July 02, 2006|Tribune Staff Report

ELKHART -- A huge stash of narcotics valued at about $200,000 was uncovered early Friday at a house in the 600 block of Gladstone. Officers with Elkhart County's Interdiction & Covert Enforcement Unit found one kilo of high grade cocaine, 14 grams of amphetamine and 124 pounds of "high grade Mexican marijuana," according to a statement from Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis T. Hill Jr. The estimated street value of the cocaine is $90,800, the amphetamine is valued at $1,400 and the marijuana carries a street value of about $99,000, the statement said. Officers said they also seized a shotgun and $38,311 in U.S. currency. The home's 27-year-old male occupant was arrested and is expected to be charged with two counts of delivery of methamphetamine, as well as possession with intent to deliver cocaine. The man -- who is not being identified because formal charges haven't been filed -- could face up to 50 years in prison if convicted. His bond is set at $2 million. "The seizure of approximately $200,000 in high-grade illegal drugs smuggled in from Mexico is right on target for what we are after in Elkhart County," Hill said. Hill said the drug seizure will "stop a substantial amount of 'poison' from hitting our streets."